Dahekou III East Baiyin Rock Art
大河口 东岩画 白银 · Dahekou East Baiyin · Yellow River East Bank
Late Neolithic to Bronze·Majiayao, Qijia, Siba (Gansu corridor Neolithic–Bronze)·🇨🇳 Gansu Province, Baiyin City, Pingchuan District, Yellow River east bank, Dahekou East (Yuwanquan), China
About
About Dahekou III East Baiyin Rock Art
3000–1000 BCE) in red monochrome on sandstone overhangs, discovered March 2025 and adjoining the known Dahekou (II) panels west bank. The east-bank discovery extends the Dahekou rock-art cluster across the river, showing cross-river pairing where west bank has pecked petroglyphs and east bank has painted deer, together documenting the Yellow River's role as integrative rather than barrier for Gansu corridor rock-art (72 sites in Gansu). Bronze Age deer link to Qilian Mati and Yumu Mountain caches.
Why it matters2025 cross-river expansion of Dahekou Yellow River rock-art, linking west-bank peckings to new east-bank painted deer.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Painted vs pecked pairing across river
- 02Majiayao/Qijia attribution
Theories
- 01Yellow River integrative corridor rock-art
- 02Deer-cult paired panels marking ford
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.3000–1000 BCE (Late Neolithic to Bronze)
- Period
- Late Neolithic to Bronze
- Culture
- Majiayao, Qijia, Siba (Gansu corridor Neolithic–Bronze)
- Builders
- Gansu corridor Yellow River pastoral-potters
- Purpose
- River-crossing deer cult and Yellow River valley marking
- Abandoned
- c.800 BCE
- Rediscovered
- March 13 2025 discovery cultural relics survey Pingchuan; 2025 digital project Dunhuang Academy
- Excavation
- Unexcavated
c.2500 BCE
Red deer painting phase
2025-03-13
East bank discovery by Pingchuan cultural survey
2025-06
Digital archive by Dunhuang Academy
On the ground
Structures & features
36.5800° N · 104.8200° E · 1450 m · 2 mapped features
Dahekou III — Red Deer Overhang (Panel DE-1)
rock paintingSandstone overhang 4.5 m with 12 red deer profile paintings 18–32 cm with antler racks, Late Neolithic
36.5810° N · 104.8210° EDahekou III — Ibex Niche (Niche DE-3)
rock paintingLower niche 2.1 m with ibex pair with curved horns in hematite monochrome
36.5790° N · 104.8190° E